John Bergin (Kansas City, MO) and I go way back. We first met, in the early 90s, through the zine publishing scene. I instantly became a big fan of both his art and his music. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with him on a number of projects, such as the soundtrack to Dan Abnett's sci-fi novel, Traitor General (the Warhammer 40K soundtrack John mentions in the interview). I also had the honor of writing the introduction to John's graphic novel, From Inside. So I was thrilled when I heard he was making it into a movie, but wondered how on Earth that could even be possible. One man, one desktop computer, and endless hours or bit-twiddling. But if anybody has the wherewithal to follow folly to a breathtaking conclusion, it's John Bergin. From Inside, the movie, has done well at a ton of film festivals, and it deserves it. It's such a testament to what heights a person and a personal computer can reach these days. As John says below: "Get started today! Don't hesitate. Use whatever you have available." A maker motto to live by, for sure. -- Gareth
First off, can you give MAKE readers some background on yourself. Tell us about your day job? Your artwork? Your music?
I wrote and illustrated comics through the 80s and 90s. Some titles I worked on are Ashes, From Inside, The Crow, Bone Saw, Golgothika, and Brain Dead. I also did a lot shorts for publishers like Heavy Metal, Dark Horse, and tons of designs for album and book covers. I recorded a lot of music through those decades, too. My main musical projects were Trust Obey and C17H19NO3. Have done soundtracks for The Crow, Warhammer 40K, and collaborated with Jarboe from the Swans and Brett Smith from Caul. My trials and tribulations in all this are documented at grindertool.com and frominsidemovie.com for anyone who's interested in spending a few hours reading, watching, and listening.
How did From Inside come about? What made you decide to make it into an animated feature?
It started out as a graphic novel, published in the mid-90s. And ever since then, I'd wanted to keep the story alive and accessible. The issues it explores are timeless. Originally, it was a 300+ page graphic novel. That's a pretty heavy project to keep in print, and comics are a pretty small niche market. I poked around with e-publishing in the late 90s, but the technology just wasn't robust enough, the quality, and format. Eventually, desktop computers became powerful enough that it wasn't that hard to take it on myself as an animated feature. So, I guess my answer is because I wanted to reach a larger audience. It's done well and has played at dozens of festivals around the world. It won Best Animated Feature at SITGES.